Automatic Meter Reading City of Cape Town surfs

Automatic Meter Reading City of Cape Town surfs the radio waves Presented by Heinrich Mostert

Project Justification Formation of Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs) New revenue income and profitability challenges Pro-active decision to explore benefits of AMR with a pilot project

Project Justification Normal meter reading and access related problems

Project Justification Normal meter reading and access related problems

Procurement Process Product and System demonstrations Emphasis on compatibility with existing infrastructure Quotations for supply, installations and commissioning

Procurement Process Project was awarded Emeris Automatic Metering Reading System (Walk-by)

Project Area Stikland-Industrial & Commercial area in Bellville, Cape Town 10 Consumers with mixture of Helix 4000, Helix 3000 and Combination meters

Implementation & Installation Route Master Africa (RMA) Management software installed on stand-alone PC Customer and meter info captured manually into database

Implementation & Installation Meter reading route downloaded to Radix FW 60 handheld computer

Implementation & Installation All meters fitted with Reed switches and RF Meter Interface Unit (MIU)

Implementation & Installation Actual meter reading and RF MIU pulse count captured for synchronization Data uploaded into RMA and actual pulse count synchronized with meter pulse weight

System Operation 1. ROUTES CREATED ON CUSTOMER BILLING SYSTEM 7. ROUTES UPLOADED BACK TO CUSTOMER BILLING SYSTEM 2. ROUTES DOWNLOADED TO ROUTEMASTER AFRICA AND ALOCATED TO METER READERS 3. ROUTES DOWNLOADED TO WALK-BY METER READING EQUIPMENT 6. REPORTS 5. ROUTES UPLOADED BACK TO ROUTE MASTER AFRICA 4. METER READING

Conclusion Project is still underway Cost Benefit Analysis to be performed Management and Budget approval strategy